1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to muzzle brakes, noise suppressors and recoil suppressors particularly those used with high powered rifles. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved noise and recoil suppressor apparatus for high powered rifles wherein angled and radially spaced bores positioned upstream of a plurality of lateral bores in combination with an upstream annular rib shields the shooter from sound waves exiting from downstream transverse exhaust ports.
2. General Background:
A commonly used weapon for big game hunting and marksmanship is a high powered rifle. High powered rifles are typically available in a bolt action, pump, or semi-automatic configuration. The caliber that is typically referred to as high powered include .243 caliber and above, such as, for example, .308 caliber, 30.06 caliber, .243 caliber, .270 caliber, and 7 mm magnum caliber, and a host of even more powerful rifles that are referred to in the art as magnum calibers. Weapons of this type are common and commercially available being manufactured by Winchester, Colt, Weatherby, Saur, Sako, to name a few.
One of the problems with high powered rifles is the recoil generated when the shooter fires the weapon. A common cause of poor marksmanship is the grimmace or flinch that occurs with many shooters at the time the trigger is pulled because the shooter anticipates the intense recoil and noise which he or she will experience when the weapon is fired.
One of the solutions to high recoil is to attach a tubular recoil suppressor to the end of the barrel in order to vent escaping gases in a lateral direction when the weapon is fired, thus reducing somewhat the recoil which is felt by the shooter. Unfortunately, the venting of gases in a transverse or lateral direction from the bore of the rifle when the rifle is fired creates coincidentally a discharging of sound waves in a lateral direction and thus a large increase in noise level to the ears of the shooter. Thus, noise has been a problem especially with marksmanship wherein a large number of rounds are being fired over a long period of time since high noise levels can be very damaging to the shooter's ears.
Examples of patents which show recoil suppressors include, for example, the Dahl U.S. Pat. No. 3,164,060, entitled "Gun Recoil, Flash And Sound Reducer Assembly"; the Blair U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,445, entitled "Flash Reducing Muzzle Brake"; the Ashbrook U.S. Pat. No. 3,115,060, entitled "Gas Inertia Controller"; the Mutter U.S. Pat. No. 2,916,970entitled "Anti-Recoil Gun Barrels"; the Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,073, entitled "Muzzle Stabilization Arrangement For Firearms"; and the Chinn U.S. Pat. No. 3,141,376, entitled "Flame-Out Eliminator".
Other devices are known which relate to silencing of noise generated by the firing of a weapon. Such noise reducers which are affixed to the muzzle end portion of a rifle are commonly referred to as "silencers". Examples of patents that show silencers include: U.S. Pat. No. 1,127,250, issued to H. Humm, entitled "Silencer"; U.S. Pat. No. 1,773,443, issued to Wilman, entitled "Manufacture Of Silencers Or Exhaust Tanks For Machine Guns And Other Automatic Arms"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,043, issued to Finn, entitled "Sound Suppressor For A Firearm"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,132, issued to Plenge and entitled "Waterproof Sound, Flash And Recoil Suppressor For Firearms"; U.S. Pat. No. 2,503,491, issued to R. Janz, entitled "Gun Silencer Including Side Branch Chamber"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,956, issued to Hubner, entitled "Silencer For Fire Arms".
One of the problems of prior art suppressors and muzzle brakes is the failure to provide a simple, straightforward yet workable apparatus which controls both the recoil and the sound level experienced by the shooter without providing an overly complicated mechanism that is prone to malfunction because of powder build-up or breakage of moving parts. Many of the above-referenced patents include multiple baffles, springs, and/or moving parts which create problems when a gun or rifle is used in a hostile environment, such as during rain, or in very cold conditions as is commonly the case in hunting.